Having it soaking with penetrating oil overnight it still wouldn't budge with some prying and gentle tapping on the freehub. Eventually i resorted to the solution as mentioned above.
I bought a cheap gear puller and that got it off. How it is possible i don't know since the bearings were replaced a couple months ago but the metal parts of the freehub bearings that slide over the axle had corroded. Leaving clear rings of corrosion on the axle (superficial, could be removed with some rubbing of a cloth). This probably caused enough expansion to clamp the freehub down on the axle. It took some force with the gear puller to get it off.
In the end though this ordeal still hasn't sorted the underlying issue. there was a ticking sound coming from the rear wheel and i figured the pawls of the freehub needed some lubing. All the pawls felt fine and a clean and relube didn't solve it. now looking into replacing the freehub altogether as well as lubing up all the eyelets of the Mavic open pro the wheel is built into. Will also check spoke tension....
Always fun when you have a click or creak you can't quite lock down. ( i know it's the rear wheel btw because when i change it out for a different rear wheel the click is gone).